Drew Dixon
The North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) has acquired yet another sizable property in Bradford County.
Some 1,109 acres were donated to the NFLT conservation organization within the Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor (iO2O Corridor) in Northeast Florida. The organization, founded in 1999, claims the latest contribution is the second largest single acquisition in its history. It’s topped only by a 2,100-acre acquisition in 2018 in the same area now called the Trail Ridge Preserve.
The land is west of the Camp Blanding Training Center, often used for U.S. military exercises and maneuvers. It is about a mile south of the New River Conservation Area.
The NFLT purchased the chunk of land from Rayonier Forest Resources, which had a history of timber production on the property. The company sold the property to the NFLT for $7.301 million. The U.S. Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration and the U.S. Army Compatible Use Buffer programs contributed most of the acquisition funding.
The Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds, named after former co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars with her husband Wayne Weaver, contributed additional funds for the purchase. In 2023, the North Florida Land Trust received a $1 million grant from the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds to support conservation land purchases in the next decade.
“What a great accomplishment … that this large piece of Florida will remain natural forever. As I always say, it is now or never,” said Allison DeFoor, president and CEO of NFLT. “There will be no bulldozers, no houses, just the plants and animals that call it home. I applaud our team for protecting the land and thank Camp Blanding for its partnership, which made the protection possible. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Delores Barr Weaver for her support of our land conservation efforts.”
The land acquired in the deal is a mix of environmental habitats, including pine plantations, wetlands, and other ecologically sensitive lands.
“This conservation effort safeguards critical habitats for a diverse range of wildlife, including the Florida black bear, deer, and turkey, as well as threatened and endangered species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, indigo snake, and gopher tortoise,” an NFLT press release said. “By keeping the land undeveloped, it also sustains essential wildlife corridors, enabling species to migrate through the O2O Corridor — a 1.6-million-acre network of public and private lands connecting the Ocala and Osceola National Forests.”
This month, the NFLT acquired a large property in Bradford County, its second acquisition. The organization also donated nearly 400 acres of pristine wetlands on Amelia Island in Nassau County near Fort Clinch State Park for conservation.
Since its founding 25 years ago, the NFLT has been instrumental in acquiring more than 42,000 acres of land preserved in seven counties along the First Coast.
6 comments
Cindy
December 29, 2024 at 3:29 pm
They have a law that is called eminite domain
Jesse
December 29, 2024 at 4:30 pm
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Cindy
December 29, 2024 at 7:14 pm
At least it ain’t about my typing skills
Harold Finch
December 29, 2024 at 4:11 pm
So NFTL did not purchase the land, the DoD did. So federal tax dollars to purchase a property that would likely never have been developed anyway. And $7.3 billion for 1100 acres, that is absolutely insane, it must be a mistake, that would be over 6.6 millioon an acre. But even $7 million is a ridiculous amount to pay for that property. My guess, NFTL is getting a brokerage fee of #700,000 plus. And Allison DeFoor is a fraud!
tom palmer
December 29, 2024 at 8:15 pm
Yeah, I was wondering about that $7.3 billion figure, too. I’m on the board of the Green Horizon Land Trust in central Florida and would be interested in how to acquire that sort of contribution.
George
January 3, 2025 at 7:25 pm
This is an issue I take with land trusts that rely heavily on tax dollars to preserve land. I have respect for the NFLT, its mission and its leadership, but $7M for this property and labeling it part of the O2O corridor (from their press release) seems questionable and expensive. I noticed from their website that they don’t actually show you how this property relates to other conserved lands. It looks like it comes close to the Camp Blanding Base but not sure it touches. Regardless, this property doesn’t appear to provide meaningful enhancement to the important O2O corridor. That $7M could certainly have gone to other properties that would have significantly enhanced the unprotected parts of the corridor. I’ve seen this with many of the bigger land trusts in the state, they get a project that may not be the best but its available and the land trust goes and gets tax dollars to complete the project (which is then promoted as an accomplishment for the land trust). Again, I know the NFLT does some really good work, and they aren’t alone in this observation, but simply because a landowner wants to work with a land trust doesn’t mean its the best project to seek taxpayer funds for.
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